Characterization Of A Putative SIR2 Like Deacetylase And Its Role In SABP2 Dependent Salicylic Acid Mediated Pathways In Plant

Salicylic Acid Binding Protein2 (SABP2) is an enzyme known to play important role in SA mediated pathway. SBIP-428 (SABP2 Interacting Protein-428), a SIR2 like deacetylase, has been found to interact with SABP2. We demonstrate that SBIP-428 functions as a Sirtuin deacetylase. We show that SBIP-428 itself is lysine acetylated. Interactions of a SBIP-428 with SABP2 also raised the possibility of SABP2 itself being lysine acetylated. The recombinant purified SABP2 or native partially purified SABP2 displayed no acetylation. In response to TMV infection, the expression of SBIP-428 was down regulated at 48 hpi. In addition, SBIP-428 was up regulated in plant known to accumulate less SA. Taken together expression of SBIP-428 is negatively correlated to the levels of SA in plants. The AtSRT2 plants exhibit no altered growth phenotype but exhibit a higher pathogen resistance against bacterial pathogen. Our results indicate that SBIP-428 is an important regulator in plant defense pathway

Machine Learning for Load Profile Data Analytics and Short-term Load Forecasting

Short-term load forecasting (STLF) is a key issue for the operation and dispatch of day ahead energy market. It is a prerequisite for the economic operation of power systems and the basis of dispatching and making startup-shutdown plans, which plays a key role in the automatic control of power systems. Accurate power load forecasting not only help users choose a more appropriate electricity consumption scheme and reduces a lot of electric cost expenditure but also is conducive to optimizing the resources of power systems. This advantage helps while improving equipment utilization for reducing the production cost and improving the economic benefit, and improving power supply capability. Therefore, ultimately achieving the aim of efficient demand response program. This thesis outlines some machine learning based data driven models for STLF in smart grid. It also presents different policies and current statuses as well as future research direction for developing new STLF models. This thesis outlines three projects for load profile data analytics and machine learning based STLF models. First project is, load profile classification and determining load demand variability with the aim to estimate the load demand of a customer. In this project load profile data collected from smart meter are classified using recently developed extended nearest neighbor (ENN) algorithm. Here we have calculated generalized class wise statistics which will give the idea of load demand variability of a customer. Finally the load demand of a particular customer is estimated based on generalized class wise statistics, maximum load demand and minimum load demand. In the second project, a composite ENN model is proposed for STLF. The ENN model is proposed to improve the performance of k-nearest neighbor (kNN) algorithm based STLF models. In this project we have developed three individual models to process weather data i.e., temperature, social variables, and load demand data. The load demand is predicted separately for different input variables. Finally the load demand is forecasted from the weighted average of three models. The weights are determined based on the change in generalized class wise statistics. This projects provides a significant improvement in the performance of load forecasting accuracy compared to kNN based models. In the third project, an advanced data driven model is developed. Here, we have proposed a novel hybrid load forecasting model based on novel signal decomposition and correlation analysis. The hybrid model consists of improved empirical mode decomposition, T-Copula based correlation analysis. Finally we have employed deep belief network for making load demand forecasting. The results are compared with previous studies and it is evident that there is a significant improvement in mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) and root mean square error (RMSE)

Understanding the Implications of Anandamide, an Endocannabinoid in an Early Land Plant, Physcomitrella patens

Endocannabinoid signaling is well studied in mammals and known to be involved in numerous pathological and physiological processes. Fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) terminates endocannabinoid signaling in mammals. In Physcomitrella patens, we identified nine orthologs of FAAH (PpFAAH1 to PpFAAH9) with the characteristic catalytic triad and amidase signature sequence. Kinetics of PpFAAH1 showed specificity towards anandamide (AEA) at 37°C and pH 8.0. Further biophysical and bioinformatic analyses revealed that, structurally, PpFAAH1 to PpFAAH4 were closely associated to the plant FAAH whereas PpFAAH6 to PpFAAH9 were more closely associated to the animal FAAH. A substrate entry gate or ‘dynamic paddle’ in FAAH is fully formed in vertebrates but absent or not fully developed in non-vertebrates and plants. In planta analysis revealed that PpFAAH responded differently with saturated and unsaturated N-acylethanolamines (NAEs). In vivo amidohydrolase activity showed specificity associated with developmental stages. Additionally, overexpression of PpFAAH1 indicated the need for NAEs in developmental transition. To understand and identify key molecules related to endocannabinoid signaling in P. patens, we used high-throughput RNA sequencing. We analyzed temporal expression of mRNA and long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) in response not only to exogenous anandamide but also its precursor arachidonic acid and abscisic acid (ABA, a stress hormone). From the 40 RNA-seq libraries generated, we identified 4244 novel lncRNAs. The highest number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) for both mRNA and lncRNA were detected on short-term exposure (1 h) to AEA. Furthermore, gene ontology enrichment analysis showed that 17 genes related to activation of the G protein-coupled receptor signaling pathway were highly expressed along with a number of genes associated with organelle relocation and localization. We identified key signaling components of AEA that showed significant difference when compared with ABA. This study provides a fundamental understanding of novel endocannabinoid signaling in early land plants and a future direction to elucidate its functional role

Molecular Characterisation, Pathogenicity and Immunological Studies of Chicken Anaemia Virus Isolated In Malaysia

A comprehensive study was carried out to isolate, identify and characterise chicken anaemia virus (CAV) isolated in Malaysia. The study resulted in the isolation of five CAV isolates from broiler chickens, designated as BL-1, BL-2, BL-3, BL-4 and BL-5. These isolates together with three isolates (SMSC-1, SMSC-2 and 3-1) provided by Veterinary Research Institute (VRI), Malaysia and a reference Cux-1 isolate were analysed by different restriction endonuclease enzymes. The whole genome of each CAV isolate was amplified by PCR into four fragments: Fragments A, B, C and D. Fragment A was digested with Styl, fragment B with StyI, Hpall and Mbol, fragment C with Haelll, and fragment 0 with EcoRI. The overall analysis revealed that the four isolates, BL-1, BL-2 , BL-4 and BL-5, exhibited the same restriction profiles in all enzymatic reactions and they are placed in one group, whereas, the other five isolates (SMSC-1, SMSC-2, 3-1, BL-3 and Cux-1) were found to be different from each other and also from the group of four isolates mentioned above. The pathogenicity studies in specific pathogen free (SPF) chickens inoculated with SMSC-1, 3-1 and BL-5 isolates at 1-day old showed that, the isolates produced clinical signs and characteristic lesions suggestive of CAV infection at 14-16 days post inoculation (p.L). The histopathological lesions in infected chicks showed severe depletion of lymphocytes from thymus, bursa and spleen and aplastic changes in bone marrow. The repeated passages of two VRI isolates, SMSC-1 and 3-1, in MSB1 cell line until passage sixty (P60), and passage 123 (P123), produced attenuated viruses (SMSC-1/P60, 3-1/P60. SMSC-1/P123 and 3-1/P123) which showed significantly reduced level of pathogenicity in SPF chickens compared to the pathogenic parent isolates. The whole genome of two non-attenuated isolates (SMSC-1 and 3-1) and two attenuated isolates (SMSC-1/P60 and 3-1/P60) were sequenced using the Perkin Elmer's BigDye Terminator Cycle Sequencing Kit. The high G:C regions of the CAV genome were sequenced using the same kit by the development of a modified method. The results showed that the complete genome of all isolates consisted of 2298 nucleotides. Three major ORFs of 1347 bp, 648 bp and 363 bp long were found in the plus DNA strand in all isolates, coding for putative proteins of about 52 kDa (VP1). 24 kDa (VP2) and 13 kDa (VP3). respectively. The alignment and antigenic index of VP1 sequence revealed the appearance of a hypervariable region from amino acid positions 139 to 157. The results showed that 76 nucleotide changes in SMSC-1/P60 and 43 nucleotide changes in 3-1/P60 isolates compared to their parent isolates, were thought to contribute to virus attenuation. Among these nucleotide changes, only one nucleotide difference (T-C) at position 816 resulted in changes of amino acid residues at positions 153 in VP2 from V to A, and 118 in VP3 from C to R. This single nucleotide change is probably important for the change in virus pathogenicity or attenuation. The phylogenetic analysis showed that the SMSC-1 isolate is close to the Australian 704 and Japanese TR20, the 3-1 isolate is close to the German Cux-1 isolate and the attenuated cloned isolate 10 (derived from the Cux-1). The attenuated SMSC-1/P60 and 3-1/P60 isolates were very close to the Japanese isolate A2. The apoptosis study carried out with electron microscopy and DNA fragmentation analysis, detected apoptosis both in infected thymocytes and infected MSB1 cells. The immunological studies with P1, P60 and P123 isolates of SMSC-1 and 3-1, and also with BL-5 isolate, after inoculation into 1-day-old SPF chickens showed that each of the isolates elicited CAY antibody responses, both at 14-16 days and 30 days p.i. Based on the findings of antibody response and pathogenicity studies, the attenuated isolates of P60 and P123 are potential candidates for live vaccines

Eco-branding: A Way to Sustainable Business Opportunities in Bangladesh

Eco-branding is a market instrument which helps both companies and consumers achieving sustainable goals and contributing to environmental protection and amelioration. This study identified the background and conceptual aspects of eco-branding from the manufacturers’ as well as the consumers’ end. Besides, the awareness and the perceptions of the marketing of eco-branded products among the consumers in Bangladesh were examined through interviewing regular customers in Noakhali city. Moreover, some basic information on eco-branded products and the role of different stakeholders were collected through intensive market observations and literature review. From the survey, only 45% respondents are found aware of the eco-branded products but 75% respondents are willing to pay up to 20% extra for these products. A number of local and international companies are coming up with substantial amounts of eco-branded products in the local market of Bangladesh. It is evident that growing social and regulatory pro-environmental concerns are responsible for such changes in production strategies of manufacturers and consumption patterns of informed consumers. Eco-branding, though is in its infancy, has enormous potential to sustain in Bangladesh’s marketplace. Keywords: Bangladesh eco-branding, Eco-label, Sustainable business, Eco-friendly business, Environmental protection

Consumers Rights and Unprecedented Mechanism of Violation and Protection: Bangladesh Perspective

This study mainly focused on investigating the root causes of rampantly violating consumer rights in Bangladesh and its impact on the people both physically and mentally. It also concentrated on creating awareness among the general people about consumer rights to protect themselves from heinous activities of unscrupulous businessmen. The study found that taking advantage of illiteracy and unawareness as well as loophole of existing laws the unscrupulous businessmen are making windfall profit without caring for consumer rights. The study also revealed that political influence, poorly structured and organized government organizations, bureaucracy and weak enforcement of existing laws, lower control of government on market, absence of world standard laboratory for testing, misleading information, syndicate business and absence of national recognition or award are aggravating the present situation. The study have concluded that ensuring the application of related laws and regulation, setting up a separate court, easing redressal mechanism, strengthening the consumer right associations and building tripartite cooperation among businessmen, government and consumers are badly needed to overcome such heinous activities of violating fundamental rights . Key Word: consumer, consumer rights, violations

The impact of extreme weather events on fertility preference and gender preference in Bangladesh

The link between population dynamics and climate-related severe events is complicated. Extreme weather events (EWEs), along with other factors such as socioeconomic and cultural factors, influence population dynamics, particularly changes in fertility, mortality, and migration. This study focuses solely on the fertility aspect of climate change and aims to investigate it in Bangladesh, which is extremely sensitive to climate change and EWEs such as floods, cyclones, and droughts. On a regular basis, the country is confronted with a number of EWEs. The current study examines how different types of extreme weather events affect vulnerable people’s decisions to have children or to prefer children of a certain gender. People who reside in a particular area may be more vulnerable to particular EWE types, which may result in different preferences for fertility and gender. This study employed individual-level data from three places (flood-prone, drought-prone, and cyclone-prone), each exposed to a distinct hazard, to address this issue, and collected pertinent information from 177 respondents in the susceptible areas using a survey questionnaire. The quantitative results show that the gender of the first child, the perceived risk of infant death due to EWE, the opinion on having more children to recover from the damage and losses caused by EWE, government and non-governmental organization (NGO) support during EWE, and the intended timing of child bearing (after or before EWE) are all significant factors influencing fertility preferences and gender preferences. The findings also indicate that the three regions under investigation have statistically distinct preferences for fertility and gender. There were larger differences between flood-prone areas and drought- and cyclone-prone areas. The complex issue of variations due to different EWEs requires more in-depth studies with larger samples and different methodological techniques

Corporate Social Responsibility Practices of Private Commercial Banks in Bangladesh: A Case Study on Southeast Bank Ltd.

This paper explores how private commercial banks practices Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Bangladesh in conserved the case of Southeast Bank Ltd.. In keeping with global movement, CSR is being seen as the source of new competition edge for the banking sectors of Bangladesh. Banks’ of Bangladesh practices CSR not only to improve community relations but also as source of significant commercial benefit. Southeast Bank Ltd. practices CSR under the rules and regulation of Bangladesh Bank. The study based on annual report of 2012 of Southeast Bank Ltd. This study shows that Southeast Bank expenses BDT36.85 million in the year 2012 at the area of education, health, community development, environmental issue, art and culture, sports etc..  Nevertheless, bank expenses highest amount in education sector through scholarship program in Bangladesh whereby school, college and university education tuition and expenses have fully paid for unconditionally.   The study can help banking manger’s understand what should be done for the benefits of customers and the community for sustainability.   Keywords - Corporate Social Responsibility, Commercial Bank, Donatio

What Influence Credit Card Debts in Young Consumers in Malaysia

This paper examines empirically antecedents of the credit card debts in young consumers in Malaysia. We examine whether easy access to credit card, credit card related knowledge, aggressive promotion by credit card industry, low minimum payment requirement and attitude towards credit cards influence credit card debts in the younger generation. Regression model was used to meet the objectives. These findings based on a sample of 240 young credit card holders, show that the factors that affect credit card debts are credit card related knowledge, aggressive promotion by credit card industry and low minimum payment requirements. These findings also provide insights for both bank management and policy-makers to improve the bank performance in terms of credit card debts